Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine

Ukrainian army’s 35 th Marine Brigade members carry out mine clearance work at a field in Donetsk, Ukraine on July 11, 2023.

-Anadolu Agency|Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and very first girl Olena Zelenska showed up in Lithuania’s capital on Tuesday as the NATO top assembles and leaders talk about continuous assistance for Kyiv amidst Russia’s continuous war.

The group’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, worried that Ukraine would get a “strong, positive message on the path forward” concerning its subscription.

But Zelenskyy stays disappointed that NATO has actually stopped working to set out a timeline or offer particular information for his nation’s future NATO subscription, calling it “unprecedented and absurd” on Telegram.

Kyiv has actually been promoting accession into NATO following Russia’s major intrusion, however authorities of the security alliance have actually formerly stated its subscription is not likely to continue while war is waged on Ukrainian areas.

— Michele Luhn and Amanda Macias

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated the Kremlin was “struck” by the speed with which “neutral status” nations such as Finland and Sweden decided to sign up with the NATO military alliance.

“We were struck by the speed that both Finland and Sweden renounced their neutral status, renounced the advantages that this neutral status provided them for many decades, provided them with relatively independent role, provided them with a reputation and authority both in Europe and on the international stage,” Lavrov informed press reporters in Moscow throughout an interview with checking out Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi

Lavrov likewise stated that Finland and Sweden have actually quit “special trade and economic investment and other relations with the Russian Federation” by signing up with NATO.

Lavrov’s remarks follow NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg’s statement that Sweden would end up being the 32 nd member to sign up with the military alliance. Finland ended up being a NATO member in April.

— Amanda Macias

Kyrylo Barashkov, a 43- year-old migration attorney, in his own bunker in Kriukivschina, a town near Kyiv on July 10,2023 After numerous rockets took off near his home outside Kyiv, Kyrylo Barashkov chose the only method to keep his household safe was to develop his own bunker.

— Sergei Supinsky|AFP|Getty Images

No ships have actually left Ukrainian ports under the Black Sea Grain Initiative in the last 3 days as the landmark arrangement deals with expiration, according to the U.N.-backed company tracking export information.

Since the beginning of the Black Sea grain offer last July, more than 32 million metric lots of foods items and farming items have actually left Ukrainian ports. The arrangement, which was brokered in between Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations, developed a humanitarian sea passage for farming items.

The offer is set to end in 6 days.

Over the weekend, one ship left Ukraine’s port of Odesa carrying 27,000 metric lots of corn predestined for Tunisia.

— Amanda Macias

Secretary of State Antony Blinken talked to U.S. legislators to talk about moving F-16 fighter jets to Turkey as Ankara mulled Sweden’s subscription to NATO, a State Department main verified to NBC News.

Biden’s leading diplomat talked to Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to name a few according to the authorities.

On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan consented to support Sweden’s subscription into the world’s most military alliance following a conference with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

— Amanda Macias

President Joe Biden held a bilateral conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan while the 2 participate in the NATO leaders top in Vilnius, Lithuania.

The conference, which was consented to over the weekend throughout an almost one-hour call, begins the heels of Erdogan’s choice to assistance Sweden’s application to sign up with NATO.

“I want to thank you for your diplomacy and your courage to take that on. And I want to thank you for your leadership,” Biden stated seated beside Erdogan.

The Turkish leader thanked Biden and wanted him luck in the upcoming governmental election.

— Amanda Macias

Kaja Kallas, PM of Estonia, speaks with CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick at the NATO top in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Kri šjānis Kari ņš, PM of Latvia, speaks with CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick at the NATO top in Vilnius, Lithuania.

NATO leaders concurred at their top Tuesday that Ukraine will be an extended an invite into the military alliance. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg set out the compromises that the NATO allies have actually concerned on Ukraine.

“We will issue an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO when allies agree and conditions are met,” he stated according to NBC News.

The complete composed statement can be discovered here.

-Matt Clinch

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on Tuesday firmly insisted that the future of Ukraine remains in NATO however stated speedy accession settlements can just occur when the war is over.

“The future of Ukraine is in NATO, there is no doubt about it,” Pistorius stated at the NATO top in Vilnius,Lithuania

“All of the other issues have to be talked about when the war is over. You can’t really negotiate about the … membership of Ukraine in NATO while the war is going on. You have to wait for this moment and then we have to do it quickly, of course.”

Asked by CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick to clarify whether Germany wishes to see Ukraine as a NATO member, Pistorius responded, “We always emphasize that … It is my point of view, yes.”

— Sam Meredith

Russia’s bank account surplus– the level at which a nation has more exports than imports– tanked 85% to $202 billion in the very first half of this year compared to the very same duration in 2015, the nation’s reserve bank stated.

The bulk of the fall originated from a drop in oil and gas profits as Western sanctions took hold and rates for Urals crude fell. Russia’s bank account surplus really struck a historical peak in 2022 as imports fell due to sanctions, while oil and gas sales– and energy product rates– were high.

— Natasha Turak

Russia introduced drone attacks on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv over night, along with on the Black Sea port city of Odesa and southeasternKherson Air signals sounded throughout the nation.

The strikes came simply ahead of a crucial NATO top in Vilnius, Lithuania on Tuesday throughout which the alliance is set to develop a brand-new defense technique and introduce a brand-new member,Sweden Two individuals were reported hurt and one dead in Ukraine’s southeast, regional authorities stated, while no deaths were reported in Kyiv orOdesa

“The enemy attacked Kyiv from the air for the second time this month,” the head of Kyiv’s military administration Serhiy Popko composed on Telegram, according to a Google translation. Ukraine’s flying force stated the drones were Iranian- made Shaheds, which 28 were introduced however 26 were shot down. NBC might not individually validate the info.

— Natasha Turak

NATO members are expected to invest a minimum of 2% of their GDP on defense– however numerous do not.

The prime ministers of Spain, Lithuania, the Netherlands, and the president of Poland, discuss their budget with CNBC.

Turkey will not harm its relations with Russia, even as it creates more powerful ties with its Western allies, Reuters pointed out a senior Turkish authorities as stating.

Turkey relieved NATO allies today, as it raised its 14- month long opposition to Sweden signing up with the alliance, making it possible for the growth of the defense company that Russia states is a source of its intrusion of Ukraine.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan utilized his nation’s take advantage of as a NATO member to extract concessions from other states, consisting of the development of a European Union reform group to restore a course for Turkey to sign up with the EU– a procedure that saw turbulent starts and stops, eventually fulfilling failure over previous years.

Turkey declined to take part in Western sanctions on Russia, and its trade with Moscow swelled in the in 2015 as an outcome.

— Natasha Turak

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday stated it is “unprecedented and absurd” that there is no timeframe for the invite of subscription of his nation into the NATO military alliance.

“It looks like there is no readiness either to invite Ukraine to NATO or to make it a member of the Alliance,” he stated on Telegram, according to a Google translation. “For Russia, this means motivation to continue its terror.”

Zelenskyy will be going to the NATO top in Vilnius, Lithuania, the group’s secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg stated previously in the day. The NATO chief worried that Ukraine would get a “strong, positive message on the path forward” concerning its subscription.

Kyiv has actually been stalwartly promoting accession into NATO following Russia’s major intrusion, however authorities of the security alliance have actually formerly stated its subscription is not likely to continue while war is waged on Ukrainian areas.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Europeans “don’t seem to understand” that moving NATO facilities closer to Russia’s borders is a “mistake,” Kremlin representative Dmitry Peskov stated in Reuters- reported discuss Tuesday, as NATO holds a significant top in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Peskov informed a press instruction that NATO’s eastward growth in Europe was what fomented the war in Ukraine to start with. Western countries hold that Ukraine and other eastern European mentions reserve the sovereign right to sign up with whatever alliance they select, which Russia’s major intrusion of its next-door neighbor in February 2022 was an unprompted act of hostility.

Peskov included that Sweden’s now impending entry into NATO has unfavorable ramifications for Russian nationwide security. He stated the Kremlin will be making “deep analysis” of the declarations made at the NATO top and will take essential steps to guarantee Russia’s security.

— Natasha Turak

The security scenario in eastern Europe and especially the Baltics has actually degraded because Russia’s major intrusion of Ukraine in February 2022, however much more so lately, the leader of Lithuania stated.

“The security situation in our region is deteriorating. It’s not improving, it’s even not stable,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda informed CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick at the NATO top in Vilnius.

“We see additional capabilities sent to Kaliningrad region. Belarus as a close ally of Russia is playing a more and more important role. So we have to be aware that we have to take the decisions to strengthen all of the eastern flank,” he stated.

Kaliningrad is a Russian exclave withinLithuania Nauseda required a more unified defense technique amongst NATO members and higher combination of defense systems in between Nordic and Baltic nations.

His remarks followed news of the obvious moving of Wagner group forces, the Russian personal mercenary group, to Belarus following a mystical stopped working mutiny in late June.

— Natasha Turak

Nordic states in NATO are a hazard to nobody and have actually joined behind the alliance for typical defense and deterrence functions, Norway’s prime minister informed CNBC.

For the very first time in history, all of the Nordics will now remain in NATO, developing– together with the Baltic states and Germany– what some are calling a “NATO lake” in northernEurope This follows the current advancement of Turkey consenting to confess Sweden into the alliance, after more than a year of opposition.

Asked if this might draw retribution from Russia, Norwegian leader Jonas Gahr Store stated, “Think about it this way; we are all members of NATO, but we don’t change as nations. We are a threat to none. We want peace and stability in our region.”

“The threat has come from Russia’s aggression in Ukraine,” the prime minister included. “That led Finland and Sweden to make historic decisions to join NATO … but we will still be Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Denmark from the Nordic perspective. We will be contributing to peace, stability and cooperation, but there also has to be solid defense and deterrence, and that has been as a result of Russia’s aggression, that is a fact.”

— Natasha Turak

Russia’s war in Ukraine has actually shown disadvantageous to President Vladimir Putin’s objectives of checking the enhancement of the NATO military alliance, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg informed press reporters Tuesday.

“[Putin] fought since he desired less NATO. He’s getting more NATO,” Stoltenberg stated ahead of the start of the U.S.-led union’s top in Vilnius,Lithuania “Moscow, President Putin, does not have a veto on NATO enlargement.”

The Kremlin pointed out nationwide security threats from Kyiv’s aspirations to go into the NATO alliance, prior to releasing its major intrusion of Ukraine in February in 2015. Since then, Ukraine has actually doubled down on its intents to sign up with both NATO and the EU, while Finland has actually been accepted as a member. On Monday, Turkey lastly backed Sweden’s subscription quote.

— Ruxandra Iordache

NATO will send out a “clear, positive message” on the course forward for Ukraine and its prospective subscription to the western defense alliance, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg informed CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick throughout the Vilnius top Tuesday.

When asked whether Ukraine might count on any concrete warranties of security, the NATO chief responded, “The most imminent task is that Ukraine remains a sovereign independent nation in Ukraine.”

“On the membership,” he included, “we will send a clear, positive message on the path forward. Text on communique will be made public within hours. I expect that allies will agree that is clear on the need to move Ukraine closer to NATO.”

Kyiv has actually been promoting NATO subscription because well prior to Russia’s major intrusion of Ukraine in February2022 Joining the alliance is now more crucial than ever to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his federal government as they look for to predict more strength in repelling Russia’s intrusion, however numerous NATO leaders fear pulling the company’s members into a war with Russia.

— Natasha Turak

Kyiv’s ties to NATO have actually deepened because a 2008 top in which it was concurred that Georgia and Ukraine would sign up with the U.S.-led military alliance, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated Tuesday at a union top in Vilnius, Lithuania.

“Ukraine has come a long way since we made that decision in 2008 that the next step will be a membership action plan,” he stated.

“Ukraine is much closer to NATO, so I think the time has come to reflect that in also the NATO decisions. So, all put together, including that we made clear that Ukraine will become a member, we moved the membership action plan, we make their forces interoperable NATO forces, we establish the NATO-Ukraine council, all that together will send a very strong and positive message from NATO to Ukraine.”

Ukraine’s potential NATO accession will be among the essential conversation points of the Vilnius top, which has actually currently seen Turkey lastly back Sweden’s subscription quote.

Russian forces performed a drone strike versus Kyiv early Tuesday, Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv military administration, stated on Telegram, according to a Google translation.

Moscow released Iranian- made Shahed drones, which were damaged prior to they might strike their targets. This was the Kremlin’s 2nd air offensive versus the Ukrainian capital this month, Popko stated.

“Tonight, our region suffered another attack by the Russians. This time the enemy used drones. The air alert lasted almost two hours,” Kyiv local military head Ruslan Kravchenko stated on Telegram, according to a Google translation. “All enemy targets were shot down by air defense forces. No hits were recorded. There are no victims.”

CNBC might not individually validate advancements on the ground.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The U.S. and some other NATO member states are not going to permit Ukraine to sign up with the alliance today, regardless of Kyiv’s duplicated calls to sign up with and persistence that its subscription ought to be authorized throughout today’s NATO top in Vilnius, Lithuania.

“In terms of Ukraine itself, President Biden, the Germans, and others, the French, are not willing to give Ukraine membership right now,” Ariel Cohen, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, informed CNBC.

“President Biden said after the war is over Ukraine will get the membership,” he stated. “The big question of course is if all of the territory of Ukraine is not liberated, what about that? Does that commit NATO to a war against Russia to liberate the Ukrainian territory? Probably not.”

The main issue amongst the United States, France and Germany is the function of Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which states that all members should protect any member state that is assaulted by a non-NATO state. As an outcome of that, NATO does decline brand-new member states that are presently at war or have actually land inhabited by an adversarial power.

“The majority of the alliance stands firmly with us,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated in his nighttime video message Monday.

“When we applied for membership of NATO, we spoke frankly: de facto, Ukraine is already in the alliance,” he stated. “Our weapons are the weapons of the alliance. Our values are what the alliance believes in … Vilnius must confirm all this.”

— Natasha Turak

Ukraine stated in the previous week Russian forces introduced 39 rockets and 334 air strikes throughout Ukraine, Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Hanna Maliar stated on the Telegram platform.

Meanwhile, Maliar stated that Ukrainian forces performed more than 79 strikes on Russian positions and on 11 ammo depots. Ukraine likewise damaged 24 Russian anti-aircraft rocket systems and almost 40 Iranian- made Shahed precision-attack suicide drones.

— Amanda Macias

President Joe Biden hailed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s choice to validate Sweden’s ascension procedures, bringing the Nordic nation one action more detailed to NATO subscription.

“I stand ready to work with President Erdogan and Türkiye on enhancing defense and deterrence in the Euro-Atlantic area,” Biden composed in a declaration.

” I eagerly anticipate inviting Prime Minister [Ulf] Kristersson and Sweden as our 32 nd NATO ally. And I thank Secretary General Stoltenberg for his unfaltering management,” Biden included.

Last May, Sweden and Finland started the official procedure of using to NATO. All 30 members of the alliance need to validate the nations’ entry into the world’s most effective military alliance.

Last August, Biden signed ratification files to bring Finland and Sweden into NATO. In April, Finland signed up with the alliance as its 31 st member.

— Amanda Macias

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg revealed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson consented to progress with Sweden’s ascension to the NATO alliance.

“This is an historic step which makes all NATO allies stronger and safer,” Stoltenberg composed on Twitter.

Sweden officially made an application for NATO subscription a year ago along with its Nordic next-door neighbor, Finland.

Both Finland and Sweden currently fulfill a lot of the requirements to be NATO allies. Some of the requirements consist of having an operating democratic political system, a desire to supply financial openness and the capability to make military contributions to NATO objectives.

Despite some preliminary sticking points with Turkey, Finland signed up with the military alliance in April.

— Amanda Macias